


Stars Across the Sky

by KRMalana



Series: Norsekink meme Fills [7]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Norse Religion & Lore, Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Community: norsekink, F/M, Family, Family Secrets, Fluff and Angst, Jealous Thor, M/M, Stolen Child, Twins, long lost twin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-04
Updated: 2014-03-03
Packaged: 2018-01-03 11:30:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1069953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KRMalana/pseuds/KRMalana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Before the war, Farbauti-Queen bore Laufey-King his heirs.  Two children.  Twin sons.  But in the final battle of the war the twins were seperated for their protection:  Laufey with one to the temple and Farbauti with the other to the wilds.  But when Laufey, waking from his injuries with his battle with Odin, finds that both the Casket and one of his sons are gone.  Desperate to protect the remaining twin, Laufey and Farbauti hid from the realms the fact that there was a second child at all.</p><p>Loki has grown up as the second son of Odin and younger brother to Thor.  He has always felt different compared to others of Asgard.  And it is not just his appearance and his magic; he has never felt complete.  Until the day, hoping to keep Thor from doing something stupid, he travels with him to Jotunheim.</p><p>(Fill for prompt on norsekink)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Birth of the Twins

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: http://norsekink.livejournal.com/11337.html?thread=26456649#t26456649  
> "Loki was not born alone. His mother, Farbauti, was pregnant with twins. That's why he's so small for a frost giant : twins jotuns are a same soul split in two.
> 
> To be sure at least one of the children would survive the war, Laufey fleed with Loki and Farbauti with the second child when the palace was attacked. They hide them in different locations, and of course, Odin found Loki, while the second child remainded safe.
> 
> Loki grew up in Asgard as Thor's younger brother. He always felt different from the other asgardians, but also never felt "complete". Then, the beginning of Thor's movie happens, except that when Loki and Thor are in Jotunheim, they not only met Laufey but also a rather small and beautiful Jotun (a girl or a boy, your choice) which looks a lot like Loki.
> 
> Loki's skin turns blue when this Jotun touched his skin. And for the first time of his life, Loki feels complete. He even forgets he's supposed to be upset. And he decides to live in Jotunheim with his new familly OR proposes his twin to come with him to Asgard.
> 
> When Thor learns the truth, he becomes jalous. Because he's Loki's favorite, and he fears to loose him. Indeed, Loki is very close to is new sibling. But it does not mean he forgets Thor...
> 
> Thor/Loki would be greatly appeciated !"

It was the greatest blessing Ymir could ever give.  

Jotunheim was their home.  A realm specially made from the body of Ymir their father for his children.  The ice and the snow were their life.  They lived where many others couldn’t, and thus they were safe and left alone.  Yet even with all this the birth of a child was uncommon.  Perhaps they should not compare themselves to other realms, who seemed to fall with child in the blink of an eye.  Those children were raised and considered differently, and not always for the greater good.

Children were held highly on Jotunheim.  They were a precious gift to be loved and adored.  They were to be taught the fall of the ice and the drifts of the snow.  They were part of a unit, a clan, a family.  They were loved and in turn would love those that came after.  For one unhappy or neglected thread could threaten the entire tightly woven network.

So it was cause for rejoicing across the entire realm when news came that Laufey-King and Farbauti-Queen were expecting twins.

And soon they were born, both surviving the birth.  There had been worry considering how big a jotun newborn could be.  But the twins were small, together making up the size of one, both boys.  They were hail and hearty, nursing insatiably and wailing if one tried to separate them too far.  They were named Ison and Loptr after the twins of Jotun legend, for the very comets of their namesake passed overhead at the moment of their birth.  

But then… then came the war.

Laufey could not understand Asgard’s reasoning.  The Jotun king had sent a small band to the human realm of Midgard.  He had thought to make a stronger contact with them and establish a port of trade.  While Jotunheim was mostly self-sufficient, there were some things that could only be found in other realms.  Like wood or materials for clothes or forges to make jewelry.  Jotunheim had trade with realms such as Nidavellir and Svartalfheim.  Why not Midgard?

Asgard, however, saw the small band as an invasion force.  It attacked, swiftly and without warning, a single Jotun able to escape during the battle to ask aid from his homeworld.  Laufey had sent more to protect the band and bring them back, realizing only then it was the High Realm that attacked him.  The forces of Asgard, led by Odin Allfather himself, pushed the frost giants back onto Jotunheim.  Laufey had sent missives, demanding Odin stop and explain himself.  But there was never an answer.  No answer other than the war that soon blazed out of control.  

Laufey-King and Farbauti-Queen watched in horror as the warpath was laid out in front of Asgard.  Odin and the Aesir were fighting straight towards the palace.  Every Jotun knew and felt, but did not speak, the fear.  Did they seek to kill their king and queen, the strongest among them?  And what would become of the newly born princes against the blindess of the Aesir?  The closer the enemy got the fiercer the jotun became.  There would be no sacrifice great enough if it allowed their strong leaders and the innocent twins to live.  

Laufey knew the strength and heart of his people.  But he was a father now and would not risk the lives of his children.  So the decision was made to move the twins somewhere else, somewhere safe.  But since they were twins, because they had always been together in the womb and since birth, it would take only one attack to wipe them both from exsistence.  So Laufey and Farbauti made the agonizing choice.  Laufey would take one twin, Loptr, and Farbauti the other, Ison, and each would hide them in a separate place.  

Laufey took Loptr to the Temple of Snow.  It was a place both sacred and powerful.  It had been built around and to guard Jotunheim’s gift:  The Casket of Ancient Winters.  The Temple was away, out of the path, of the invading Aesir.  And Laufey would use the Casket if anyone dared to enter.  And Farbauti took Ison and fled out into the howling wind towards the Black Spine.  There she moved herself and the twin deep beneath the world, under the snow and ice and glaciers, to a place so wild and sacred it had always been left untouched.  It was the place said to house Ymir’s very heart.  She prayed that the ancient father would allow them to shelter here, and to guard her distant husband-king and son.  

The Aesir broke over the palace like an unstoppable tide.  Laufey and his select elite band watched in horror from the spires of the Temple.  Then the Allfather had appeared.  Sudden and without warning, striding into the Temple as if he owned it now.  Laufey and the jotun had fought without thought to their own lives.  They had to protect the Temple.  Otherwise, both the newborn prince and the Casket could fall.  They tried to lure him away.  They tried to take him back into the battlefield.  But Odin of Asgard wanted the Temple and he took it.  The guard fell.  Laufey fell.

When Laufey awoke, struggling for life and breath, both the Casket and his son were gone.  

Across the wilds, hidden deep in the ice, Farbauti could not comfort the wailing howls of loss and pain that suddenly tore at Ison.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think its official now. My niche (atleast on Norsekink) is Hodur in general, male!Sigyn, and original characters.
> 
> I've fallen in love recently with Laufey prompts and ones involved Loki and an original character in some way (love, sibling, friend, etc). And I've always liked the various explanations as to why Loki was born so small. Lover of twins I am, this one makes a lot of sense.
> 
> * Ison is named in honor of the Ison Comet. Works rather well when you think comet= icy heavenly body. Loptr also seems to be (both in my head and in a good portion of norsekink) Loki's Jotun name. The "legend of the jotun twins" will appear later.


	2. Sky-Travelers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All his life, Loki has felt different. All his life, Loki has felt incomplete.  
> ~*~*~  
> All his life, Ison has known that nothing will be right until he finds his lost twin. So he waits, and then, he searches.

For all his life, Loki has felt different.  

But the problem lies in that it is a feeling.  And it is a feeling he cannot explain.

He is the second son, youngest child, of Odin Allfather and Frigga the Fairest.  He is brother to Thor, the Golden, the Thunderer.  Perhaps he feels different from the childhood thoughts that he does not look like his family.  He is slim.  He is like his mother, but many women are slim.  Thor and his father are mighty warriors, thick and strong.  His skin is pale and his hair is as dark as night.  Thor has the same golden hair as their mother.  Odin could have had dark hair as a younger man but to Loki he has always had the white hair of a wise king.  

At one point he had thought it his magic.  His mother was gifted with magic and it was she who taught him.  But it is more focused on illusions and nowhere near the vast strength of his.  His father has magic as well, yet that comes from the runes.  Rune-magic and wisdom he got in exchange for his eye.  Thor is like an elemental.  He is of the storm, of the thunder and of the lightning.  

He does have friends.  Not like Thor, no.  They are fewer, yet dearer.  Even then there is something missing, a way he cannot connect to them.  They don’t seem… right.  They are not… what he is looking for.  Completeness.  That is what he searches for.  Someone to fill the distant and ever present ache deep inside of him.  But who?  And why?  Sometimes, alone, or deep in the night, he thinks about it.  Someone to hold his hand.  Someone to lean his cheek against.  Someone to listen to their breaths as they curl tight together.  Someone who thinks just like him and knows everything before it is spoken aloud.  

It is much different than the feelings about love or a lover.  Loki knows that at least.  Because he knows just who he loves in his heart.  But it can’t ever be voiced.  Because the one he loves is his brother.  

Mischief fills the hole at times.  A game.  A prank.  A well laid twist.  When he laughs, he can hear the voice of someone chuckling beside him.  Then there are the plans.  Then there are the cleverly laid traps and plans.  A presence helps him plot them and whispers well done when they are played.  

Sometimes he thinks he is close to finding them when he travels.  He wanders the realms alone, by himself.  When Thor is near he is… a distraction.  When Thor is around that is the only time his mind spins out of control.  So Loki makes sure that while he spends time with Thor, when he searches they are apart.  Along the Bifrost.  Over the ancient branches of Yggdrasil.  It is there he finds the most secret and hidden passages between the realms. 

He learns how to weave his words to protect himself and his family.  Liesmith.  He learns how to coat his speech so that others are willing to throw themselves to his bidding.  Silvertongue.  He learns to, after some of his adventures are reported back to Odin, how to conceal himself from Heimdall’s gaze.  Sorcerer.  Even the helm he crafts for himself, the one with the curling horns he is so mocked for, comes from it.  Since he feels they should be there; be on his head.  The Horned One.  

There is one title, however, that Loki does not create solely by himself.  It is true.  He travels the skies by Yggdrasil’s branches.  He visits many realms and many places.  He has wet his toes in many waters.  His eyes have seen, his ears had heard, the goings on of them all.  But there are many stories, many tales, that make their way back to Asgard claiming that Loki had done this or Loki had been here.  Loki smiles, a grin accepting it as the truth.  For while it does sound like something he might do, he knows he has not done it.  It is out of this mysterious one, and himself, is his last title.

Sky-Traveler.  

But there is no time to think on it.

Thor’s coronation is growing close.  And with each passing day Loki’s chest draws up tighter.  Thor is not ready to be king.  He is too prideful, too immature, to run a king.  Much less a realm, and even less a realm that is in charge of the peace of so many others.  What is there he can do?  Father will do nothing about his worries.  Mother is too oblivious to admit it.  And then there is Loki’s very heart.  In that heart is his fear.  The coronation means that Thor will be king.  A king will have need of heirs at some point, just as Thor and he are Odin’s heirs.  To get those heirs, one needs a wife.  The very thought makes his blood boil.  He will not see another be at Thor’s side, whisper in Thor’s ear, lay in Thor’s bed.  He will twist his hands around the neck of anyone who tries.  There are too many to look out for.  Those who would wish to take advantage of Thor.  Those who Odin would like to arrange for him.  Those who Thor looks upon with favor himself.  

It is coronation day, and Loki fears that Odin will announce a marriage after he pronounces him king.

But it never comes.

The Vault is attacked.  Jotuns have found their way into Asgard.  They are soon dealt with by the Destroyer, but in all the chaos Odin has stopped the ceremony.  It couldn’t have gone better than if Loki had planned it himself.  

But then there is a new worry.  Thor is enraged.  He thinks of war to deal with the attack on Asgard, yet their father rebukes him.  Thor, being Thor, does not think ahead.  He does not think of the possible consequences.  Oh Thor.  Handsome, foolish Thor.  Nothing good will come of barging into Jotunheim.  And yet Loki goes with him.  He trusts no other to keep the light of his heart safe.

~*~*~

From the moment he is old enough to understand the words, Ison has known what is missing.  

He misses his twin, his womb-mate, his birth-brother, the other half of his soul.  They are supposed to be together.  They were never to be separated.  Laufey-Father and Farbauti-Mother try to comfort him as best they can.  They hold him tight.  They let him snuggle and nest between the powerful curves of their bodies.  He can lay his head on their chests.  Listening to their breathing.  Listening to their hearts.

It isn’t enough.

When he was little, Ison would gaze forlornly out into the snow-white wind looking for Loptr.  He had to be out there somewhere.  Mother and Father have softly told him they do not know the fate of Loptr.  He could have been taken.  He could have just as easily been killed.  But Ison knows he is alive.  His heart would not feel this emptiness if Loptr was no more.  

So Ison began by waiting for him.  He is the Prince of Jotunheim.  He is the Hidden Jewel.  He knows his kingdom, and he knows his realm, so he is ready to help Loptr once he returns.  He gathers many friends across the vast reaches of Jotunheim, so Loptr will never feel alone again.  He practices the mighty waves of magic that flows in his veins, because he knows that Loptr will have it too.  It sings within him, it flows within him, louder than even the ancient songs of the ice.  He bends it to his will.  He shapes it to his whims.  It is more than any other jotun can lay claim to.  For while he can control ice and cold as well as they, every element and force is just at his fingertips.  

As time passes, as he grows older, Ison knows he can no longer wait.  He has seen the comets moving in the sky.  The very comets, Loptr and Ison, the souls of the ancient giants that he and his twin are named after.  Their paths had crossed and continued alongside each other for the first time since their creation on the day they were born.  Since then the comets have been separated, traveling different and varied paths as before.  But Ison watches them.  He plots them on the star charts kept deep in the heart of Mimir’s Well.  The paths are not so random as they appeared.  They are slowly, ever so slowly, traveling about the realm, drawing closer and closer so that one day the paths will cross again.

It is then that Loptr will return.

So Ison sneaks along the edges of their realm.  Asgard has locked the Frost Giants in their home, or so he thinks.  They have taken the Casket, and they have taken the Bifrost.  But they forget that they too are a child of the Great Tree.  There must be other, older ways to travel between realms.  And he finds them.  He moves along the branches and finds that he can step into worlds he has never seen before.  There is so much to see and explore.  As much as his curious mind wants to learn of them, he knows he can use this chance to find his twin.  

He makes mistakes of course.  The Frost Giants have been locked away for so long they do not know what is spoken of them across the realms.  Many view them as monsters.  Many, many times, when people caught sight of him, they scream in terror or fly against him.  There is little chance for him to sneak about since he sticks out in his blue skin.   It is only when he brushed up against someone, when his magic wrapped about him to help him adjust to the contact, that he saw himself chance.  The icy blue loveliness melts away to pale skin, like that of many inhabitants of many realms.  It hides his horns and the family lines of both his parents.  It even changes his red eyes to a shade resembling an emerald.  The only thing that did not change was his long, black hair.  So not only was he a magic-bender, he was a shapeshifter as well.  

With this shifted form, Ison finds it simple to move about the realms with ease.  No one takes much note of him.  He can search and ask of his twin to his heart’s content.  It is difficult, and there are no signs of his twin.  But he doesn’t give up.  While he is out, while he can travel, he never forgets the good of his realm.  Outside of the gaze of Asgard, Ison began to bring life back into Jotunheim.  Through the same pathways, more obvious ways, trade renews with a few realms.  More importantly he gathers news.  News about all the realms.  And about Asgard.

Odin Allfather, Warbringer, thinks to step down from his throne.  Out of his two sons he thinks to put the eldest, Thor, on the throne.  Ison thinks it a rather poor choice.  From what he has heard about this son, it is not all good.  A Thrasher and a Warmongeror.  But from what he has heard of the second, Loki, he likes.  He is well informed and intelligent, a sorcerer and a word-weaver.  But he can’t do much about the choices of other realms.  All Jotunheim can hope is that the new King will finally be willing to listen and end the slow death that has been dealt.  To get off that damned high throne and actually come to see the realm and the people he has condemned.

Ison had just returned to his home when he felt it.  A great rush of magic in the distance.  Something that could only be of another realm.  He has only to glance at the sky to see that the tales from the war are true.  The sky is awake, lights dance and wave like they do on the water.  The Bridge is coming.  He sprints to the Palace as fast as he can, shouting warnings to the guards as soon as they are in sight.  The Jotuns have seen it as well, but their eyes are only on the safety of their prince.  They form a tall shield, a mountain of ice, that runs around him to protect him until he is before his father.  Laufey-Father says little only to stoop down and sweep him up in his arms.  He holds him for a brief moment before passing him to Farbauti-Mother.  For the briefest of moments he had felt his father shake before it is swept away into his powerful repose.  He commands the two of them out of sight, to hide deep within the heart of the palace.  At the first sign of danger they are to flee to the wilds.  His mother protests, she would rather face the Asgardians with her mate, but father silences her with a look.  A look deep into her eyes that flickers over to their child.  

In the split second before they are beneath the stone and the ice, Ison looks to the sky.

The two comets are almost touching and fast approaching each other.  


	3. Reunited

The moment Thor opened his mouth Loki knew they were in trouble.  Thor never put much stock in words.  While Loki had immersed himself in the lessons their tutors had presented on diplomacy, Thor had only skimmed over them.  Thor was power.  Thor was strength.  His brother had told him once, smile bright and warm arm about his shoulders, told him he didn’t need it.  He had Loki for words and magic.  

“Thor.  Stop, and think.  Look around you.  We’re outnumbered—“

“Know your place brother!”  Thor hissed and shook off Loki’s staying hand.  

Above them, Laufey answered.  “You know not what your actions will unleash.  I do.”  Loki, the only one truly listening, heard how the jotun’s voice trailed off.  His eyes were distant from the scene before him for a split moment.  Recalling.  Remembering.  But it was gone when he spoke again.  “Go now.  While I still allow it.”

“We will accept your most gracious offer.”  He touched Thor’s side again.  A silent plea to listen to him.  They needed to leave.  Staying and fighting the Frost Giants would only bring danger and the threat of war.  A jotun stepped forward from beneath where Laufey sat on his throne.  There were other ways out, openings in the shadows, but none that the Asgardians could use.  They would have to leave the way they came.  The guards slowly cracked their fingers and summoned ice to form their weapons.  Loki knew the moment either Thor struck or Laufey commanded, they would strike.  Blessedly, Thor turned to follow him.

“Run home little princess.”

Oh.  Damn.  He didn’t need to turn around to know that Thor’s mouth slowly twisted into a smile.  He heard Mjolnir strike and sprung into action.  Once the hammer struck the giant the jotuns attacked, and the Warriors Four answered.  Loki stayed as close to Thor as the battle permitted.  His daggers were like sharp fangs biting into the blue flesh.  The ranged attacks helped keep some the forms like sprinting mountains away as the group tried to flee towards the bridge.  It soon became evident that these guards only had powers over the ice.  “Thor!”  Loki added his scream to those of their friends and finally drew the warrior out of the fight.  Thor sprinted past him as Loki cast secondary images of them to cause confusion.  His own progress was halted, but atleast it would allow his friends and brother to get away…

For all his magic, Loki was soon aware that between their size and number he would be overwhelmed.  Part of him hoped Thor had lingered or would return.  No.  He was Loki.  He would protect himself.  Emerald eyes darted about and landed on Laufey.  He had yet to move from his stance by the throne.  If he could launch an attack near the Jotun King the guards would draw back to protect him…  Whispering the words of the fire spell he curled back his arm and launched the attack—

“Father!”

A counterspell slammed into his and knocked it harmlessly to the side.  Out of one of the archways a small jotun slid to a stop on the ice.  Magic danced around his hands as he prepared another attack.  He was small, only the height of Loki himself.  Raven black hair was drawn back in a long tail and a robe graced his form.  Horns peeked out from the curls across his forehead.  At his arrival, a change came over the giants near him.  From attack to defense, trying to shield him from the invader.  He waved them away with his next strike of icy spikes shot towards Loki.  Loki continued with his fire, knowing it would triumph over the newcomer’s power.  He did not dodge, but twisted and redirecting Loki’s power once more.  Then, abruptly, his next attack was water, sizzling as it put out the fire midflight.  Loki danced out of its path since the water would make the ice slippery.  The jotun had used a different type of magic?  He was certain when he attacked the small jotun with lightning, wild and nearly out of control, more Thor’s forte than Loki’s.  The jotun slammed a bare foot to the ice and raised a stony shield for the lightning to strike harmlessly against.  

It was a dance between sorcerers.  One magic was answered with another.  The frost giants steered clear of the battle.  Laufey watched anxiously from above, knowing his son could hold his own but worried nonetheless.  Evenly matched.  Unaware their movements were mirror copies of each other.  Soon it was not a battle of survival, but of testing the opponent.  At the same moment, unbidden, they paused.  Loki and the small jotun stared at each other across the ice, panting for breath.  Hands at the ready.  

Then a change came over the small jotun.  Shock came over his face, then quiet awe.  At the same moment Loki could feel the change coming over him.  Here, outside of the battle of magic, he could see the jotun.  Really and truly see him.  Feel him.  Familiar.  Safe.  A slim hand started to rise to the jotun’s mouth then stopped.  “Loptr…?”

The breath caught in Loki’s throat.  He knew he had never seen the small frost giant before.  He knew he had never heard the beautiful jotun’s voice before.  Yet in that moment Loki realized he did know him.  The jotun quietly approached him, bare feet falling across the disrupted snow.  Smiles slowly began to tug at their lips.  Loki heard the fall of feet and hooves behind him and ignored them.  Sapphire-skinned fingers reached for his pale hand and two fingers delicately curled around his.  At the touch changes came over both their bodies.  It was if the color of their skin drained out and into the other.  Loki watched the blue crawl up his arm and spread over his body.  The cold suddenly had no effect on him.  The light entered his eyes differently, the glare off the ice and snow gone.  Something itched where his forehead met his hairline and when Loki rubbed it he found two small horns had grown.  The same that had been curling out of the jotun’s forehead; now disappeared.  The change over the jotun made Loki understand just what was happening and who the young man was.  The blue skin was now pale.  The ruby eyes now emeralds.  Save for the longer length of hair, it was if he were looking into the mirror.  A mirror image.

A twin.  

Arms opened wide and they fell on each other.  Laughing.  Crying.  Loki knew now what the hole within him had been, what had made him feel incomplete.  All this time he had had a twin.  The other half of his soul that had been curled with him in the womb.  Of course his mind recognized what the revelation of a twin meant.  If the other was a jotun, it meant that he was one as well.  That explained why the touch had changed their appearances and not frozen his skin.  Of course there was much deeper things to worry about.  Why had Loki always looked different?  How had he ended up in Asgard?  And why had he been raised the second son of Odin and Frigga when he was not?  He should be angry.  He should be upset.  All he could think about now was he never wanted to let go of his twin’s hand and praying the fluttering in his heart would stop.

His twin drew back a step, hands still linked together, and rubbed at his eyes.  “My name is Ison.  I’m… I’m your twin brother.  I’ve missed you so much Loptr!  Or… or what are you called now?  Where have you been?”

“Loki, of Asgard,” he answered breathlessly.  “I thought all this time I was the second child of Odin and Frigga… But everything makes _sense_ now!”

“It might to you, but we are very much in the dark.”  Laufey rumbled.  He had walked down to their level and was now joined by another jotun.  But not one of the guards.  A giantess of great beauty with thick curls of blue-black hair.  Her gaze was protective and yet surprisingly gentle as she looked on the two, and fierce as she looked beyond them.  “Care to explain the theft of my son, Allfather?”  

Loki turned and saw that Thor and the others were behind him.  They had been joined by Odin, just now sliding off of Sleipnir’s back.  Thor’s eyes were wide and his mouth agape at what had unfolded before him.  When he had noticed Loki’s disappearance at the bridge sight he had immediately set out to retrieve him.  Odin, alerted to his son’s plan by Loki’s clever foresight, had arrived and joined him.  They had arrived at the palace just as the twins had touched each other.  Loki could see the emotions warring over the face of the man he had always called father.  “I had no idea he was your child, Laufey-King.”

“You had no right to kidnap any child!”  The giantess countered.  The outrage was of a parent who had last that child.  She could only be Laufey queen… and his birth mother.

Odin countered, “I thought it was a child abandoned and being used to feed the power of the Casket!”  

“By Hel!  Whatever gave you that idea?  The Casket is its own power source.  Loptr was left near to while I fought to protect his life from Asgard!”

“….oh…”

The bickering and accusations continued back and forth.  But it was clear the entire event, the entire war, had come from a misunderstanding.  Before the war the relations between Asgard and Jotunheim had been strained at best.  The inhabitants of one realm didn’t know of the inhabitants of the other.  Actions were misread.  Intentions were mistaken.  No one had the thought or taken the time to ask Jotunheim what they were doing.  Perhaps Asgard did not need to, but in its position as the self proclaimed ‘high realm’ they had a duty to their ‘charges’.  It had led to the war on Jotunheim.  And it had led to the taking of an innocent child.  

The argument passed around the ears of the twins.  Their eyes and hands were only for each other.  They talked in excited whispers.  Secret plans.  Cunning musings.  There was so much time they had to make up.  “How did you know I was still out there?  That I would ever come back?”  Loki wondered aloud to Ison.

Ison grinned and pointed upwards.  “Our namesakes.  Every few centuries the comets cross paths.  The last was the day of our birth.”  Loki followed and saw the comets hovering in the distant space.  They were like two stars, bound and crossing, streaking across the sky.  “Oh, there’s so much to show and tell you!  I don’t even know where to begin.”

“Perhaps we should decide where to live…” Loki wondered out loud, slowly rocking their joined hands.  “Live in Jotuneheim with my new family, oh, well, my blood family…”  He tilted his head as he thought and Ison did the same.

Neither of them saw the look of horror on Thor’s face.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to capture Loki's and Ison's elation at reuniting. There's also the feeling of completness for Loki (since he didn't know what was missing) and Ison at being with his twin (since he knew what was missing). 
> 
> Also, Thor is not happy at Loki being so at ease with the revealation and so chummy with his 'new' brother.


	4. Chapter 4

The first problem wasn’t which place they were to live. It was that they might be separated once again. They heard now the argument between Odin and Farbauti. Laufey stood by his wife, content to allow her this first before he raised his own concerns.

“Please understand. Frigga raised him as her own. If I returned and told her without Loki present, her mind would always question the truth of this matter.”

“And what of myself?” Farbauti asked. “I was the one who carried and birthed them. I was the one marred by his taking, and watching the pain of his twin grow without him.” The dark curls flowed as she shook her head. She drew in a breath to repress her anger. “However, my anger is with you, not her. I understand the pain she might experience. I will not cause it in her.”

She looked over to Loki and Ison. The ruby eyes grew soft at the sight of them side by side. As it should be. As it always should have been. “Loptr… Loki. I know you don’t know me, and I will not harm your mother Frigga. Just… promise that you will come back? Even just to visit?” Loki could see the sacrifice she was making. He could feel the fierce protectiveness in her, one that would destroy any that dared touch her children. She did not want him to leave; she believed she would never see him again. “I promised I will. Things will be difficult, complicated, and take time to unravel… but I will.” She smiled, and a soft thank you caught in her throat.

Loki could feel Ison smiling excitedly beside him. Their hands were still linked together. He had never really done this before. Holding hands had not felt right. Now it did. It was a physical touch to let him know his twin was near. He squeezed the hand and Ison squeezed it back. He still wasn’t upset. Any other would be, and rightfully so. But his heart and soul, now complete, was content.

“Now to your first son,” Laufey now spoke. Everyone realized that he referred to Thor. Odin nodded, a harsh expression coming over his face. The two kings, without speaking a word, agreed. Thor’s attack on Jotunheim needed to be discussed.

Thor’s heart leapt in his throat. First, Loki had been revealed not to be his brother. Not even of Asgard but a Frost Giant. Loki had a twin, a blood brother, and now acted like he had all but forgotten about Thor. Now both the enemy and the his own father looked to turn on him. “Father! They attacked us first!”

“And what did I answer you, before forbidding you to come here!? The actions of a few is not indicative of an entire people. Those who broke in and attacked us were punished already. It was my duty to inform Laufey-King of this and determine the cause.”

“But Loki—“

“Only came to protect you, and did right to leave a missive for me so I would know what was happening.”

“Most would take this as an act of war,” and suddenly it was Laufey chastising him! “By your anger and warmongering you would have brought two realms into conflict once more. Your father made the same mistake. One that, by not looking and listening, still remains.” Thor did not know of what he spoke. Odin seemed to. For a brief moment a look of unease and shame was in his eye. While Laufey raised the point, he did not address it now. “You think us an enemy without knowing a thing about us.”

Thor cast his eyes over to Loki as Odin approached him. He knew not for what he pleaded; only that he wanted his brother. Loki’s face was drawn and pale, eyes looking between them. He knew not what Odin would do either. A mighty hand reached up and wrenched the medallions on his shoulders that help up his cloak. “Thor Odinson. You betrayed the express command of your king. Through your arrogance and stupidity you would have opened these realms and innocent lives to the horror and desolation of war. You are unworthy of Asgard, your realm. You are unworthy of your title. You are unworthy of the loved ones you have betrayed. I now take from you your power. In the name of my father, and his father before. I Odin Allfather cast you out.”

“You will remain here until you are worthy once more, and have learned that the Jotun are a people, not an enemy.” Thor could feel his power draining out of him. Empty. Weak. So abrupt and sudden that he almost lost his footing. With a flick of his hand the Allfather summoned the Thunderer’s weapon to him. Not only would his power be gone, the hammer would as well.

Mjolnir in hand, Odin turned away. He motioned for Loki to follow him. And Loki hesitated. Thor was in pain. Thor felt alone. Could he obey his father, and leave him here? But he loved Thor. And because he loved him he knew what his father had done was right. He closed his eyes and steeled himself. Squeezing Ison’s hand one last time he released it. As he walked past Thor he gave him a reassuring touched and a small smile. He did not stop. Climbing onto Sleipnir behind is father, he hid his face in Odin’s cloak, seeking to shield himself from Tor’s screams.

~*~*~

Odin did not speak on the journey to Asgard. Loki knew he waited to speak when they joined Frigga. In the halls, Loki spotted Volstagg, Sif, and Hogun approaching. Fandral must be resting with the healers. Odin silenced any demands with a look. Loki knew the expressions on their faces. Where was Thor and why was Loki the one who had returned? He wondered what they would think, that he was actually a jotun. That he was not a brother to Thor and twin to the prince of Jotunheim.

Frigga was pacing nervously in their rooms. She gasped in relief and rushed forward when she saw them. Loki was quickly in her arms and kisses rained into his hair. When she asked of Thor, Odin quietly explained all that happened on Jotunheim. She sighed softly in sadness, holding him tighter. “Did we go wrong somewhere, Odin? For Thor to do such a thing?” Odin shook his head. He wondered the same as she. Had he really thought Thor ready to take the throne? “Frigga, there is something else… while there, Loki found out…”

She knew exactly of what Odin spoke. She drew the two men over to a couch and sat them down. Loki sat in between. The queen said something. Simply waiting for Loki to begin. “Why did you take me?” He asked suddenly. “You were deep in jotun blood and war. Why?”

“You were an innocent child. I was not cruel enough to kill a baby, no matter the origin.” Odin slowly rubbed his hands as he remembered. “I truly thought you had been abandoned; that you were unwanted. I picked you up, and then you smiled… I knew then I couldn’t leave you there.”

“And you had no idea who I was?”

“No. When I touched you your skin shifted to resemble my own. I thought perhaps you could have an Aesir parent… but I knew later it was due to your magic and skinchanging abilities.”

Loki could still not wrap his brain around it. “Why did you never tell me? Why let me believe one thing while I was another. All this time…”

Frigga was the one who answered. “I wanted to tell you the truth from the beginning. The more time you were here, the more we fell in love… We never wanted you to feel different because of who you were.” She smiled sadly, “But I guess it still happened.”

“It was not that I was a jotun, a frost giant. It was that I was separated from my twin.”

Shock overtook her face. Loki explained to her all that ha happened. That while protecting Thor he had discovered his twin, Ison. Frigga could hear the happy excitement in his voice. He had not been different. Simply incomplete. It was a difficult feeling to describe. In all of the palace city thee was only one known set of twins. Baldur and Hodur, born to one of the minor nobles. Loki also revealed that Ison was the prince and that their parents were Laufey-King and Farbauti-Queen.

“Well. You just like making things very difficult,” Frigga half teased to Odin. The man groaned and drew a hand through his hair. The coming weeks were sure to be filled with changing views and politics. Right now, however, the revelation of Loki’s origin and family took precedence. “ Loki. We will always be your family and you will always have a place here. However, it is up to you to decide what to do.” Frigga took Odin’s hand and held it in hers. “It is only right that we support your choice.”

It was something he needed to think about. His whole world had been turned upside down. Odin and Frigga were not his blood parents, and Thor not his brother. However, just because there was no blood did not mean all that time spent together meant nothing. They were a family by the twim and love between them. And nothing could ever change that. So too was the family he did not know, especially thw twin he had been separated from. How different might life be if they were together? He wanted to get to know Ison as well as the parents who birthed him. “I want to spend time on Jotunheim, and especially with Ison. Perhaps we can be the representatives of new relations between Asgard and Jotunheim. I can spend time there, and he can come visit us here… if that is alright?” He smiled brightly and began to plan as the two nodded yes.

~*~*~

Ison approached the rooms with a tray balanced in his hands. As much as he wished to wait at the bridge site, he knew Loki was not going to return at this moment. And, as prince and host, he wanted to make sure their guest was comfortable. Thor had not been placed in the dungeons. Without most of his powers and his weapon he wouldn’t be much of a threat. He would be treated as close to a guest as they could. But it was foolish to not admit that, in a sense, he was a hostage. Thor had been placed in rooms that could be secured with guards. The frost giants nodded at the sight of their prince. Ison could see the worry and hesitation in their eyes. “It is alright. I doubt he will hurt me.” They still looked ready to protest, but stepped forward and opened the door for him.

“Hello,” Ison called as he entered, “I brought you something to eat!” There was a wide bedroom and a second room for the bath. He found Thor seated at the desk with his head in his hands. He couldn’t tell if the man had been crying. But he knew how he must be feeling. A lot of things had happened today and many changes were on the way. “It’ll be okay, Thor. Mistakes are an opportunity to grow and learn. I can help out! There are so many things to show both you and Loki. We’ll do it all together!”

The warrior slowly raised his head. The blue eyes slid over his shoulder to look at the young man. A jotun stared back at him. If he had not seen the transformation with his own eyes into a long haired version of Loki, he would have never believed it. Ison smiled as their eyes connected. “I’ve never imagined that I would have an older brother. I mean, I’m the older twin and sometimes felt like I’d never find Loptr—“ Ison gave a little flinch as the mug from the tray flew past his shoulder and shattered on the wall behind him.

Thor stood, arm still extended from the throw. The chair had clattered to the floor. “Do not play at sympathy with me. You are no brother of mine!” His breath was ragged. Hands curled into fists. If it would not have gotten him in more trouble, he would have worked out his anger on the small jotun.

Ison seemed to have no reaction. No fear. No anger. Just a maddening calm. He eyed the shards on the floor before folding his hands in front of him. “I’ll come see you tomorrow.” With that, the jotun prince left. He waved the guards, gathered anxiously at the door to enter, away. And that was it. Thor collapsed against the desk, wishing that Loki would return and they could return home.


	5. Legend of the Twins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ison takes the princes of Asgard to meet Ymir, and tells them the origin of his and Loki's name.

“Loki!”

Loki looked up at the happy call. The Bifrost had only just left them on Jotunheim. Ison was already running up to him and threw his arms around him the moment he was close. He laughed and hugged the jotun back. He must have been waiting for him. “Hello, Allfather.” Ison greeted Odin, who had come to start negotiations with Laufey while Loki visited his twin. The bonds between Ison and Loki had been nearly instant. The relationship between Asgard and Jotunheim would take much more time to form.

Loki noticed the many eyes on him as the walked through the palace. The news must have spread on the lost twin’s return. While there was a pause at times at his appearance, many greeted him or gave a smile. He also saw how they interacted with Ison with respect and ease. They were more like companions than servants and guards. While it was normal for all to know Ison, Ison knew all of them. “Would you like to see my room?” Ison asked, wondering as he said it if it was silly. Loki didn’t think so. “Of course.”

Ison excitedly skipped up the stairs to one of the higher points of the castle. “I moved between the rooms and also spend many nights with Mama and Papa. But these are mine.” The rooms were laid with ice and stone. Large windows let the sun flood in, but were set in such a way that could not be seen from the outside. There were many normal trappings of a room: a bed, chests for items or clothes, a desk, and places to sit. But there were many things that spoke to Ison’s personality, as well as how similar he was to Loki.

Many shelves were carved in the walls. A surprising number of books and papers were stored there, covering a multitude of subjects. Loki moved over to them, fingers exploring the items. There were many other things, such as those kept as memories or mementoes of travel. Plants frozen in full bloom, types of wood, drawings, handcrafted goods, and others. He picked up a small hammer and realized it was of dwarven make. “That’s a dwarven jewelry hammer. It was a gift after I allowed a craftsman to study my eyes. He said he’d never seen such a shade of green.” Ison spoke of his other appearance.

“You’ve traveled?”

“Of course! I know we were supposed to be unable to leave, but I had to find you. I discovered pathways, ancient branches, and journeyed everywhere I could. That’s how I found I could change my skin. The worlds… there is just so much to see!” Smooth stones from the seas of Vanaheim, moonflowers from Svartalfheim, golden nuts from Yggdrasil, feathers of a bright colored bird of Alfheim.

“You are the other Sky-Traveler!” Loki exclaimed in delight. When Ison asked what he meant, Loki happily went into tales of his own travels. Sometimes on his own, other times with Thor and their friends. He also spoke of times hearing tales attributed to him but had never done them. Ison laughed. Those were the times he had traveled! It was only when they noticed the sun moving across the bed where they lay that they noticed the morning had passed.

“Opps! Guess we weren’t paying attention to time.” Ison slipped off the bed and Loki followed. “I wanted to start showing you around today. We’ll go get Thor… I thought you could learn together… does that sound okay?”

“Yes...” Loki thought it a wonderful idea, but heard the hesitation in Ison’s voice. “Why not?”

Ison tried to hide it, but where Loki was practiced at it, he was not. He smiled sheepishly and rubbed his head. “I don’t think Thor will like me very well.” He couldn’t tell his twin what had happened when he tried to visit and talk with Thor.

Emerald eyes rolled, “Don’t worry about that. He’s probably still grumpy from getting consequences for his actions. I can just see him pouting.” He laughed and then the laughter trailed off. “He has been okay, hasn’t he? Sleeping and getting enough to eat?”

“No, we stuck him shirtless in the Frozen Sea and let him sleep with the Ísabrotdýr.” Ison had to tease. Yet in his play he studied his twin. Loki was concerned for his brother. Even as he mocked he wanted to know he was well. It was… touching. “I mean, with his situation placed on him by Ppa and the Allfather some security is needed. He’s not in the dungeon of course. But he does have guards.”

The guards opened the doors for the twins to enter. Thor had been at the window looking out over the snow. He was dressed in a thick, fur-lined clock to help with the cool temperature. He turned at the sound of the door and one sight of Loki was enough to make his eyes spark. “Loki! Brother!” His smile was as wide as his arms as he buried Loki in a hug.

Ison couldn’t help but smile as he watched them. Loki tried to smile, but it was rather to do while his ribs were being crushed. “Yes yes, I’ve come to see you. Down please?” The warrior eventually relented. He still kept him close. “Haven’t you come to take me home?” Thor asked hopefully. Loki’s narrowed eyes were the only answer he needed.

Ison chuckled, trying to hide it behind a hand. He motioned to Thor’s cloak. He pretended not to notice now Thor shied away from the motion. “Will that be warm enough to go outside? Would you need another type of boots for travel over snow?”

“Yes. It will do. I can handle your cold.” Thor answered briskly.

“Well, just let me know if you do get cold.” Ison led the two through the palace. The ice prince quickly popped into a meeting room to let his parents know where they were going. Laufey nodded and Farbauti smiled. There was something proud there, especially when he said they were going to Mimir’s. Odin was present as well. He gave a quick glance to the twins but purposely would not look to Thor. A t least the talk between the realms seemed to be going okay…

Loki could feel the tension in Thor, however. The air around him would shift between loss and anger. He had not taken any time to think. He still thought of himself in the right. Loki hoped that the stubborn would stop. He only wanted the best for Thor. He could also not help but see the way he acted towards Ison. He was tense, purposely angry with him. He was even making sure he stood between the twins.

The trio soon left what looked like an icy roadway that led from the palace and out to the snow. Ison set a bare foot to the snow and stepped on it. Instead of sinking he walked upon it, barely leaving a mark. As light as a leaf on water. “Is that magic?” Loki wondered. “Or can all frost giants do that?”

His twin grinned. The teeth were a flash of white between the indigo lips. “Most can, but only somewhat. Snow is harder to control than ice so many will move it out of their way since their size weighs them down. I think because I’m so small I can. Probably you as well and if not now definitely in your jotun form.”

Loki was curious enough to try. Just not right now. He could feel how Thor tensed at the mere mention of it. The older prince had already begun to stubbornly forge his way through the snow in the direction Ison walked. Loki gave a little shrug and followed behind in the furrows. Thor was only going to wear himself out. Maybe his brain would start working once all the pent up energy was gone and actually learn from what they were seeing. “We are truly going to Mimir’s?”

“Yes,” Ison nodded. “He is the oldest living being on Jotunheim. He guards Mimisbrunnr and the wisdom contained within. Odin Allfather even came to him when he was young and exchanged his eye for a single drink from the Well.” Excitement grew in the prince’s voice. It was easy to tell that he was looking forward to the visit. Before them, growing more visible in the distance, was the form of a great root. Both visible and wavering in the air without form. The root came from the sky before disappearing into a high peak. Something was built around it on the peek resembling towers and delicate architecture. Yet for how visible it was the two princes saw no way to enter until Ison disappeared between a fold of the dark ice.

The massive scale of the inside seemed too great to match what they had seen outside. Ceilings soared above them. Staircases curled up and down the walls to the many levels along the sides of the room. Deep shelves were carved into the walls and contained things both seen and never seen before, imagined and one of a kind. It’s main feature was the well that sat in the center of the floor though with its size it could have been a small lake. The main root, now physical, reached into the water to draw from it. Numerous smaller roots branched out to do the same or to curve in a knotlike fashion atop the surrounding stones or walls. A massive, towering stone sat looming over the well either white in color or covered with snow.

Except it wasn’t a snow.

“Mimir!” Ison called excitedly and ran towards the stone. At his voice the stone began to move. The surface that appeared white stone was in fact yard upon yard of white hair, intricately beaded or braided seemingly without pattern. Limbs appeared out from under the hair as thick as trees. The blue skin upon them was paling. His movements were slow, the very sound of ice moving upon itself. Finally his face appeared as he turned to gaze upon the small prince and Loki gaped. His head was almost bigger than Ison at full height! The wrinkled skin of age was pulling over the powerful bones of his face and his eyes were pale, either blind or going blind. But wisdom was plain there, as was happiness as Ison reached out and laid both his hands on one of the large fingers offered to him. The smile the prince graced upon him was one only given to an old and dear friend. “How fare you today?”

“As well as the white snow on the cold bright face of the mountainside, now that you have come.” The great jotun slowly turned his head to look at the root of the tree. “Wind rustles through the leaves of the World Tree. Change is upon us, now and today, then and future.” A slow rumble began as Mimir laughed. “Your companions wouldn’t have anything to do with that, would they?”

“Yes, Mimir.” The jotun prince turned and held out his hand for the two to join him. Loki hesitated before cautiously taking a few steps forward. Thor’s hand shot out to hold him back, his eyes never leaving the jotun. Was this the true size of frost giants? Had the ones he battled before just runts? Loki shook his head and touched Thor’s hand with one of his own. He finally stood beside his twin and looked apprehensively up at the giant. So, this was Mimir the Wise… “This is him, Mimir! My twin, my Loptr. Though he is Loki, of Asgard.”

“Ah…” Mimir sighed softly. “Asgard. I understand now why I could not see you. The newborn princes had yet to be brought to my Well when the war began, so I did not know you. And the Allfather wove spells over you to protect you as a child.” The jotun blinked slowly. Nothing was done in quickness with him. He turned his head to look upon Thor. “I do know you. Thor Odinson. You look very much like your father when he was a young king. Come to offer at the Well for wisdom? Though… I suspect it would take both your eyes.”

Did... did the jotun just insult him? Thor was sure there was an insult there. He would have struck him with his hammer or with his bare fists, but then the twins glared at him. At the same moment, Ison and Loki looked over their shoulders with eyes narrowed and jaws set tight. Thor crossed his arms tight over his chest so he couldn’t use them. Fine. He just had to keep quiet and pretend he was learning something, right?

Ison whispered a soft apology to Mimir and the jotun rumbled back. “May we use the Observatory, Mimir? I wish to show them the comets. Our namesakes.”

“Yes, of course. The Observatory belongs to he that uses it. I am sure you know the way. Just call if there is any thing you wish of me.” The jotun watched them go, his eyes lingering on Loki and Thor. A thoughtful look crossed his face as he observed the interaction of the two. Ison and Loki would be fine with the bond of the womb holding them tighter than any time stolen from them. Thor and Loki however… that could change. It was changing. And it was up to them how it could turn out.

Ison led the way, climbing up the smaller roots that together formed a staircase to the highest level above. Here tucked into the corner was a great curved circle formed into the ceiling. Layer upon crystal clear layer of ice was layered together to form a smooth surface that acted the same as a telescope. Star charts were scattered about the area, some recording the movements of two specific heavenly bodies. Ison placed his hands on the edge within reach and a soft series of cracks resounded as he released the ice that held the magnifier in place. The circular pane moved with surprising ease as the prince directed it to a certain part of the sky and spun the pane to make the sight appear closer. Two comets were almost intertwined, their icy tails long as they slowly moved across the sky.

“This is what I wanted to show you,” Ison spoke softly. His fingers hovered just over the glass above the comets. “Loptr. Ison. That’s how I knew you would return soon.” Behind his twin, Thor huffed. Ison pulled a chart from a table to show them. “The comets cross paths only every few centuries. The last was the night we were born; so they should have gone their ways. But they didn’t. They were slowly moving back together.”

Ison’s blue finger traced their paths. Loki’s pale one followed. He could see the neat marks where Ison had tracked the comets. The last could only have been a few days ago. “How did the comets come to be named? It must be of some significance to follow their paths and be the names of children…”

The ice prince nodded. “It is. It is one of the most important stories of Jotunheim, right after the birth of Ymir.” Over their shoulders Thor snorted. Ison set the chart back on the table and led them to a part of the root that made a natural seat. Above it, carved out of the living wood, was a miniature tree in the image of Yggdrasil. Glass orbs hung from the branches after the Nine Realm. There were even little carvings after the many creatures that lived in the Tree. “History is important. By looking at where we came from we can form where we are going to go. What was good and true, and what should never happen again. All that has happened in his lifetime Mimir has woven into his hair. A reminder that can never be cut, seen in the twists and the weavings.” Ison’s eyes closed. The way he tilted his head and arranged his hands Loki knew he would begin a tale. And Ison did.

“The tale begins after the birth of Jotunheim itself. The realm was young. Ymir, the First of All Frost Giants, was young then. He birthed children and those children had children. And there was one, a giantess, who was most favored in the eyes of her grandfather. Melrakki she was called after the white of her hair and the quickness of her mind. Melrakki was often wild and restless. She walked the branches of the World Tree to see what mischief she could find in other realms. Then the day came that she boldly strode into the realm that no Jotun had ever gone: Muspelheim.” Ison reached up to the miniature realms dangling from the model of Yggdrasil. He tapped the red tinted glass of the orb representing the burning realm. Fire leapt from his finger and raced within until it shown with a molten light.

“None had gone for fear of death from the heat and the flame. The Flame Giants, however, were giants such as she. In as much that they were opposites it was that they were also the same. Their prince was Aldrnari and he began to laugh, amused by her arrival and the surety with which she carried herself. He asked her to dance and she agreed. His fire did not burn her, and her ice did not extinguish him. In that moment, and in the moments stolen by sneaking into each other’s realms, they fell in love.”

“When Ymir discovered where it was that his granddaughter snuck off to, he was both enraged and fearful. He forbade Melrakki to see the Fire Prince again. What if she were harmed? What if this relationship never before attempted was for a reason, that it could kill her? But Melrakki did not obey just because these were the fears of her grandfather. She knew what it was that she did and knew that her love in Aldrnari was not for rebellion.” Ison paused in his story. He reached to the orb representing Jotunheim and plucked the two tiny orbs that hung near it. They blazed with their own tiny light as Ison held them out in his palm. “And it was that Melrakki was already pregnant with the Fire Prince’s children.”

“Two she carried in her womb; twins, birth-brothers. The first of their kind. Even their mother did not know what it would be that she brought into the world. But she fought for them as she would herself. Melrakki did not allow any to turn her against her children, to end their lives before they began. So what if there had never been a child between a Frost Giant and a Flame Giant? So what if their birth killed her? She would have them. With or without her people. Even with or without Aldrnari, who only wished to keep her safe.” With a bounce of his hand Ison used his magic to make the tiny orbs float above it. “And when it was the twins entered the world they were not like anything birthed before. Small for giants, for two they were. But within them, running with the very blood in their veins, was magic. Magic far greater than just the ice of their mother or the flame of their father. It was the magic seen in the Ginnungagap itself. Perhaps it was their magic, or perhaps it was the dueling of the two giant races within them, but it was the twins could change their skin as well into whatever form pleased them.”

Ison watched the orbs floating, as did Loki and Thor. There was such a pause in the air that it seemed the tale was done. That was until Ison smiled as he looked on his own twin. “They were named Ison and Loptr. And as much as their birth had formerly caused fear in so many they were the delight of all they met. There are far too many tales and adventures of Jotunheim’s first twins to tell at this time, save one. When they knew their times were at an end they did not wish to leave each other or the realm of their birth. Who would protect her? Who would keep her safe? So the twins used their magic and transformed their beings into comets that streaked across the sky. Always present. Always watchful. There had been other twins born to the Jotun, but the honor of the names of Ison and Loptr are reserved for those birthed when their paths cross in the heavens.”

The orbs were hung back in their proper place. Then, with a soft laugh, Ison broke the magic that the tale had woven in the air. He rested his arms on his bent knees as he spoke again. “All Jotun are children of Ymir, but it has been seen that twins are more often born to the line that Melrakki and the twins left behind. It is also out of this same line that great magic can sometimes appear. Farbauti-Mother is of this line, though it did not matter to Laufey-Father when he fought for her. But when Mama saw the three signs of our birth: that we were twins, that she felt our magic, and we were born under Ison and Loptr, that we should be named after them.”

It was a tale that left Loki breathless. So the Jotun had a tale that explained how some could be born with magic. On Asgard such an event was a rarity and often looked on with suspicion. Most of their mages, and even Odin’s magic, had come from giving something in exchange, or spending most of one’s life harnessing it, or weaving complicated runespells that might not work. What were the tales of the twins? Had someone resembling a Flame Giant ever been born to a Jotun? But as he began to ask Thor interrupted with a scoff in Ison’s direction. “It’s a pretty story. But Loki’s name isn’t Loptr. It’s Loki.”

The words were swift and harsh. Ison seemed to have no reaction to them. Or if he did, it was well hidden. “I know. I thought you two would like to hear where the names came from as well as one of the stories that we hold very dear in our history.” Ison turned his attention back to his twin. “What does Loki mean? How did they decide on that name?”

“Because,” a voice slowly rumbled beneath them. The three young men looked down to see that Mimir, for all his great size, had silently moved beneath them. “When Frigga looked on the babe’s twinkling eyes for the first time she saw the laughter and the merriment there.” The jotun tilted his head and the pale eyes slid to Thor. “If you still wondered, my prince, Thor was named when he first tried to suckle from his mother he shocked her with his lightning.” Ison chuckled and Thor blundered to come up with a reply. That wasn’t true! Father had said that the sky thundered at his birth. What would any frost giant know about it? Mimir held out his great hand to the prince and Ison stepped onto it as it was the most natural thing in the world. He looked even smaller as Mimir brought him close to his face and the two gently butted foreheads. “Thank you for coming to see me.”

“Of course!” Ison answered before laying a kiss on the Wise One’s cheek. “I’m sure that there will be many trips by the three of us to see you. Even I still have things to learn and many to teach.” Mimir smiled before slowly lowering Ison to the ground below. He did not offer the same to Loki and Thor, for he knew that his size still intimidated them. The two scrambled down the way they had came with Thor going before his brother in case he needed help. He did not, of course, and was not sure how he felt on Thor’s attitude.

As they journeyed back to the palace Loki made sure to walk next to his twin. He had not seen much of the people of Jotunheim. There had been no reason to travel here before, no interest in them. But what he had seen so far and especially today with Mimir he found himself wondering. “Are the appearances of Frost Giants… Jotun… always so varied?”

“How come the Aesir and Asgardians don’t all look alike?” Ison replied. The reply was meant in jest. But damn if the way his red eyes twinkled didn’t set Thor on edge. “But I think I know what you mean. Mimir’s appearance and size is due to his age. He is our Wise One, and will return to the ice when his time is come…” Ison trailed off thoughtfully. He seemed to have more to say but decided against it. “As to why some of us have hair and others no seems to be chance, and can come in a few colors. For appearances there is not much else, though now we are on the topic, and considering people in Asgard, there is something else.”

“What is that?”

“The types of people… the… oh what’s the word…” Ison talked with his hands as he thought. “Gender! I know many places there is only two. Two that people are very locked into. With Jotun there are differences. Bulls are our males; thicker, broader, givers of seed. Our females, giantesses, are called dams; swifter, protective, carriers of children. Dams will often grow their first set of horns with a first child. But there is an in between, ones who are both though in appearance they can resemble male or female. They can sire and they can carry. Rams can sometimes be told by having horns at a young age, though more often it is a bit of an unknown until maturity.”

Loki eyes widened ever so slightly. “So your horns and mine?”

His twin reached up to rub his small horns. “It might be. Sometimes people just have horns too. It helps a lot if someone won’t leave you alone. Give them a good whack or poke in the head.”

“Sounds like you’ve had to do that,” Loki chuckled. And Ison answered with his own laugh. They didn’t really notice how similar they sounded. Or how familiar they acted with each other as they leaned close to share the laugh. Behind, Thor watched with an angry set jaw. Why? Why did he have to learn about these people? Why was Loki so… interested in them? Shouldn’t he be angry? Shouldn’t he be furious that their Father lied to them their entire lives? Granted, he didn’t care that Loki apparently was one of them. Loki was Loki. He _knew_ his brother. He didn’t know these people.

He didn’t trust them.

Thor needed to get out of here, and take Loki with him before anything happened to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I wanted the mother of the original Ison and Loptr twins to be Ymir's granddaughter. Turns out while searching Norse Mythology for that person that, of all people, Bestla might be Ymir's granddaughter (Bestla is Bor's wife/ Odin's mother). Opps? I'm pretty good using the mythology in interesting ways, but couldn't work around that, so I made up a character. Names were taken from Old Norse
> 
> Melrakki – "white fox"  
> Aldrnari – "fire
> 
> Ísabrot "ice breaking" dýr "beast" My name for the ice-beast we see at the beginning of the first Thor movie. Been used before for "Lost in the Wind"


End file.
